Around The Nation: A coast-to-coast roundup of police news.
People & Places: On the job at last; go East, young man; life’s a beach; seeking a chief who’ll stick around; home grown exec; Hernando’s “people person.”
Pointing fingers: NWho’s to blame for drug-case problems in Baltimore?
Quality counts: A timely new look at the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Picking up the tab: Local agencies get stuck with most of the U.S. criminal justice bill.
Think again: A closer look at crime undoes a city’s notions of hot spots.
Court ruling is a mother: CWhat to do when a suspect says he wants his mommy.
What’s in a name? Sheriff insists productivity guidelines are not a quota.
Keeping up appearances: Michigan senator wants
to get tough with police impersonators.
Try, try again: Austin police recruits have trouble passing the Texas police test.
That Was Then: A look back at events of this month 25 years ago in LEN.
Forum: The state & local role in domestic defense.
Learning to share: New NYS public-security office sets its sights on information-sharing.

While it often seems as though the professional tide runs from public service to the private sector, the reverse proved to be the case this month, when the vice chairman of the board of Merrill Lynch accepted an appointment as deputy commissioner of legal matters for the New York City Police Department.

Stephen L. Hammerman was named to the post by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Feb. 4. Praising the 64-year-old Hammerman as a “smart, compassionate, brilliant lawyer,” the mayor said: “The NYPD must possess an effective legal operation. This administration is committed to the fair and proper enforcement of the law...”

While on the surface it would seem that an East Texas town and the island nation of East Timor would have little in common, it’s simply not true, insists Richard Delaney, a retired police officer from Texas City who believes his familiarity with Customs procedures has given him most of the training he will need as a member of an international peacekeeping force stationed on the island.

East Timor, located about 300 miles north of Australia, fought a bloody 20-year battle with Indonesia. United Nations forces will remain in the country until its first democratic election takes place later this year. “This is certainly an adventure,” Delaney, 45, told The Texas City Sun. “I think that the only reason I’m able to do this job is because of what I’ve been able to do here. This has been what has prepared me for it...”

Officials in Riviera Beach, Fla., contend that the city’s new police chief, Clarence Williams III, is up to any problem that crosses his desk. And apparently, there will be plenty.

Williams, 49, is a former lieutenant with the Cincinnati Police Division who ran as an independent last year for a city council seat. He assumed command of the troubled Riviera Beach agency this month. In 1997, Williams was instrumental in creating a citizens review panel and as a candidate for city council, he called for the replacement of Cincinnati’s safety director’s office with a safety commission. Williams also campaigned for the adoption of Issue 5, which would permit nationwide searches for police chief candidates...

After a string of temporary and acting chiefs, the Wallkill, N.Y., Police Department finally has its first permanent leader in two years.

Town officials this month appointed a former New York City police captain, 38-year-old Robert Hertman, who retired from the NYPD in April. He was chosen from a handful of finalists winnowed down from an applicant pool of 15, said Town Board Supervisor John Ward. Hertman, he said, was chosen for his supervisory experience. While with the NYPD, he led a precinct of up to 180 officers and worked in Internal Affairs. He “was by far the most impressive and professional of all the candidates,” said Ward...

It took over $6,000 and the help of an executive search firm for officials in Suffolk, Va., to realize that the man they wanted as their police chief was already serving in that position, albeit in an interim capacity.

Maj. William A. Freeman, the Suffolk Police Department’s longest serving officer and first black to hold many of its ranks, was named to the spot permanently in January after having served as acting chief twice in the past five years, The Norfolk (Va.) Virginian-Pilot reported...

What changes are in store for the Hernando, Miss., police force now that a new person is in command? Nothing major, says Chief Mike Riley, who was appointed Feb. 5. “We might just tidy up a little bit, remind everyone that this is a people-oriented business.”

Riley, an assistant chief since 1997, had been serving as interim chief since Gerald Shackleford opted to become a patrol officer again in January. Mayor Ed Gale cited “burnout” to explain Shackleford’s decision...